Five detained over China expired meat scandal

SHANGHAI, July 23 (Xinhua) -- Shanghai police have detained five people in a probe into a company that allegedly supplied expired meat to fast food chains including McDonald's and KFC.

The five people from the company include a quality manager, according to a statement from the Shanghai public security bureau on Wednesday.

The Shanghai Husi Food Co., Ltd produced 5,108 crates of meat products, including McNuggets, pork patties and beef steaks using out-of-date or moldy materials, according to the bureau and Shanghai's food and drug administration, which are jointly investigating the case.

The products were sold to brands including McDonald's, KFC, Pizza Hut, Burger King, 7-Eleven and Taiwanese-owned Dicos, according to investigators.

About 100 tonnes of the Husi products have been sealed up, said Xu Wei, a spokesman for the Shanghai municipal government.

Shanghai-based Dragon TV aired a news program on Sunday claiming that Shanghai Husi, a unit of U.S.-based OSI Group LLC, had supplied products tainted with reprocessed expired meat to a string of fast food chains and restaurants across China.

Zhang Hui, manager of Husi's quality department, confessed during investigations that the company has been conducting the malpractice for years under tacit approval of senior managers. Enditem

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